Abortion on Screen: Shonda Rhimes and the Television Portrayal of Women’s Reproductive Rights in the United States

(1)

Abortion on Screen

Shonda Rhimes and the Television Portrayal of

Women’s Reproductive Rights in the United States

By

E.M. van Hees

June 20, 2017

MA Thesis

History: American Studies

Thesis Advisor: Professor M.S. Parry

Second Reader: Professor R.V.A. Janssens

(2)

(3)

(4)

1

Chapter 1: Introduction

What’s Shonda Rhimes Got to Do with It?

I am attempting to reflect the world that I live in. Attempting to reflect the medical world that doctors exist in. Attempting to write women as they actually exist. – Shonda Rhimes1

1.1 Shonda Rhimes and Women’s Reproductive Rights

At the 2015 Massachusetts Conference for Women in 2015, a conference providing motivation, networking, skill-building, and inspiration for women, Shonda Rhimes was introduced by television critic Emily Nussbaum as a ‘gladiator’ bringing a new ‘dark and twisty’ language to television. According to Nussbaum, “[c]rucially, she has put women, gay men and lesbians, and people of color at the center rather than the edges of her fictional worlds”.2 Nussbaum is a well-known journalist who writes for The New Yorker and won a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2016. The descriptions she uses for Rhimes as a writer producer, and influencer in television mirror the general descriptions and expectations that are held for her as a powerful woman of color. Rhimes has expressed her discontent with her success always being linked to her gender and race, as in August 2014, when she was described as “the most powerful black female in Hollywood” in a draft announcement for an event. She reacted by crossing out ‘female’ and ‘black’ before returning the draft.3_{Rhimes argued that these modifiers were not relevant or} necessary, as “[t]hey wouldn't say that someone is 'the most powerful white male showrunner in Hollywood.”4

With the success Rhimes has achieved, scholars have analyzed her work within the context of feminist representation and racial diversity. Sociologist Maryann Erigha, analyzed Rhimes’ and her unique success as a black woman in Hollywood, subsequently claiming that the success of Rhimes and a strong black lead character like Olivia Pope are due to the politics

1_{Shonda Rhimes, Planned Parenthood Champion of Change Award Acceptance Speech (2017)}

Ramin Setoodeh, “Read Shonda Rhimes’ Full Speech at Planned Parenthood Gala: ‘Women Should Be Running Things’,” Variety, accessed June 2, 2017.

http://variety.com/2017/scene/news/shonda-rhimes-planned-parenthood-read-full-speech-1202407894/

2_{Emily Nussbaum & Shonda Rhimes, “Shonda Rhimes at the 2015 Massachusetts Conference for Women,”}

Massachusetts Conference for Women, accessed January 29, 2017.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_g-Js-Al4g

3_{Lacey Rose, “Shonda Rhimes Opens Up About 'Angry Black Woman' Flap, Messy 'Grey's Anatomy' Chapter}

and the 'Scandal' Impact,” the Hollywood Reporter, accessed January 27, 2017. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shonda-rhimes-opens-up-angry-738715

(7)

4

of crossing over.5_{Erigha argues that success in Hollywood can only be achieved by not being} “too black”.6_{Related to this, communications scholar, Ralina Joseph stated that Rhimes’} onscreen black female characters are elite, professional powerhouses who show great success in their work and complex personal relationships. Furthermore, Joseph argues that the black female leads embrace interracial relationships and friendships, seldom seen in the company of other black women.7 As stated by Nussbaum, Rhimes has put women at the center of her stories. A 2016 thesis analyzed feminist and patriarchal themes in Shonda Rhimes’ series

Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away with Murder. The analysis of feminist and

patriarchal themes in these shows illustrated that feminist themes were present in Grey’s

Anatomy and Scandal, yet, How to Get Away With Murder also illustrated “rampant patriarchal

themes.”8 Even though previous research analyzed Rhimes’ portrayal of feminist values, these analyses have not yet placed this in the scope of women’s reproductive rights.

In 2016, Shonda Rhimes received the Producers Guild of America’s Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television.9 The award was named after writer and producer Norman Lear, because he was a pioneer in film and television writing on social issues.10 In 1972, two months before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in the United States, Lear introduced an abortion narrative to his CBS sitcom Maude. Lear developed two episodes in which the title character decides to terminate her pregnancy and persuades her husband to have a vasectomy. According to Parry, the show’s popularity paved the way for other television shows to address difficult issues.11_{Parry argues that Lear had an unusual level of autonomy that may have helped him} successfully produce programs illustrating the theme of abortion.12_{Rhimes has created a} similar situation for herself at ABC Network. In several interviews, she has discussed her privileged position at the network and the fact that she has the freedom to make decisions about

5_{Maryann Erigha, “Shonda Rhimes, Scandal, and the Politics of Crossing Over,” The Black Scholar 45(1)}

(2015): 10.

6_Ibid.

7_{Ralina L. Joseph, “Strategically Ambiguous Shonda Rhimes: Respectability Politics of a Black Woman}

Showrunner,” Souls 18(2-4) (2016): 303.

8_{Katelyn C. Roshetko, “A Rhetorical Analyisis of Feminist and Patriarchal Themes within Shonda Rhimes’}

Television Shows Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder,” Liberty University (2016): 85-86.

9_{Kate Stanhope, “Shonda Rhimes to Receive PGA’s 2016 Norman Lear Award,” the Hollywood Reporter,}

accessed January 30, 2017.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shonda-rhimes-receive-norman-lear- 837417?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=THR%20Awards%20Alerts_now_2015-11-05%2010:22:17_kstanhope&utm_term=hollywoodreporter_therace

10_{“About,” the Norman Lear Center, accessed January 30, 2017.}

https://learcenter.org/about/

11_{Manon S. Parry, Broadcasting Birth Control: Mass Media and Family Planning (New Brunswick, NJ:}

Rutgers University Press, 2013), 67.

(8)

5

her shows. She did have some discussions with the network when it came to abortion plotlines on Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal but in other cases she did not even ask: “Part of the luxury of my job is that I don’t necessarily have to ask anybody anymore. I didn’t ask, we just did it.”13 Rhimes is not the only one discussing abortion through her television narratives. Sociologists, Gretchen Sisson and Katrina Kimport studied abortion outcomes in film and television between 1916 and 2013 and they found that the number of abortion plotlines have increased by at least 31% each decade over the decade before.14

In their research into abortion plotlines on American television, Sisson and Kimport concluded that a clear majority of fictional characters retrieving an abortion between 2005 and 2014 were white.15 The percentages of abortion distribution for U.S. women in 2008 show that 36.1% of the abortions were obtained by white women and 29.6% were obtained by black women. Between 2005 and 2014, 87.5% of the abortions in American television were obtained by white women and only 5% were obtained by black women.16 Sisson and Kimport do not provide possible causes for the discrepancy in percentages, however, they do suggest that the underrepresentation of certain populations of women considering abortion on television could contribute to feelings of isolation or internalized stigma and shame.17 Some of the reasons behind having an abortion were also underrepresented in abortion plotlines on television. Financial unpreparedness and prioritizing the needs of existing children were portrayed less frequently and could suggest that abortion is a self-focused decision and that the procedure is wanted instead of needed.18

This thesis will not focus on Rhimes and her portrayal of powerful women or race as a factor in abortion plotlines. Instead, the focus will be on Rhimes’ portrayal of abortion as a part of women’s reproductive rights and how her portrayal of abortion has developed over the course of her shows. This focus combined with an analysis of recent developments and restrictions in the U.S. abortion debate resulted in the following research question: how does Shonda Rhimes portray abortion in her television series and in what ways do these representations relate to recent developments in the U.S. abortion debate?

13_{Willa Paskin, “Shonda Rhimes on Grey’s Anatomy’s Recent Abortion Story Line,” Vulture, accessed March}

5, 2017.

http://www.vulture.com/2011/09/shonda_rhimes_talks_about_grey.html

14_{Gretchen Sisson & Katrina Kimport, “Telling Stories About Abortion: Abortion-Related Plots in American}

Film and Television, 1916-2013,” University of California, San Francisco, December 31, 2013, p. 415.

15_{Gretchen Sisson & Katrina Kimport, “Facts and Fictions: Characters Seeking Abortion on American}

Television, 2005-2014,” Contraception 93 (2016): 449.

16_Ibid. 17_Ibid. 18_Ibid.

(9)

6

1.2 The Importance of Storytelling

In portraying a fictional world that reflects her own, or her ideal world, Rhimes has illustrated that in order to make progress, or create acceptance, stories need to be told. When she received the Norman Lear Achievement Award from the Producers Guild of America in 2016, one of the co-chairs of the jury called Rhimes the most passionate and insightful storyteller in entertainment today.19 In 2013, Time listed her in their “2013 TIME 100,” which lists the 100 most influential people in the world. In the accompanying article, Oprah Winfrey described Rhimes as “the storyteller of our time.” She said that the characters Rhimes creates, and the real faults and fears they deal with in her fictional world, can be related to by everybody.20 In 2016, Amy Brenneman, who plays Violet Turner in Rhimes’ show Private Practice, spoke up about her personal attitude towards abortion in a personal column for Cosmopolitan. In this column, she opened up about having an abortion when she was 21. Brenneman says she is part of the 95% of women who have never regretted their decision to terminate a pregnancy. Furthermore, she explains that now she has become a parent, her commitment to reproductive rights and justice for women has only become stronger.21 Brenneman compares the fights for abortion rights and marriage equality in the United States, and concludes that while marriage equality is becoming more accepted, abortion is not. She argues that the difference is related to storytelling, saying “the tide of marriage equality turned when same-gender couples began to tell their very specific stories: not being allowed in the hospital room of their partner, not being able to adopt children together, not being seen as equal to their heterosexual peers.”22 David Moats, editor of the Rutland Herald, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001 for his series of editorials commenting on the divisive issues arising from civil unions for same-sex couples. Moats argues that the supporters of marriage equality knew that in order to win sympathy for their cause they had to show real people about their lives in a real way.23 The result of sharing these stories is that others saw that people in gay and lesbian

19_{Kate Stanhope, “Shonda Rhimes to Receive Norman Lear Award from Producers Guild,” the Hollywood}

Reporter, accessed January 30, 2017.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/shonda-rhimes-receive-norman-lear-837417

20_{Oprah Winfrey, “Shonda Rhimes: Storyteller 43,” Time Magazine, accessed May 30, 2017.}

http://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/time-100/slide/shonda-rhimes/

21_{Amy Brenneman, “Why I’m Sharing My Abortion Story,” Cosmopolitan, accessed April 2, 2017.}

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a54363/amy-brenneman-abortion-story/

22_Ibid.

23_{David Moats, “Through Storytelling, the Case for Full Equality Started to Make Sense to More People,”}

Vermont Humanities, accessed June 1, 2017.

https://www.vermonthumanities.org/through-storytelling-the-case-for-full-equality-started-to-make-sense-to-more-people/

(10)

7

relationships are just like everybody else. Finally, gay marriage became legal in the United States in 2009. The fight for women’s reproductive rights is different but storytelling may be equally important. Even though the procedure has been legal ever since 1973, the stigma has never truly disappeared. The fight for abortion rights hints at a vicious circle, the procedure will only be accepted when people start to share their personal stories. However, as long as the topic is part of a stigma, many women will probably remain too afraid or ashamed to speak publicly about it.

1.3 Public Advocacy & Planned Parenthood

Along with all the success, Rhimes also attracted some negative reviews of her work. She has addressed powerful political topics as part of her storytelling; Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and Private Practice have all dealt with controversial topics related to women’s reproductive rights. Rhimes has expressed her surprise at the reaction the public had to Scandal’s main character terminating her pregnancy. Rhimes once claimed that she did not view abortion as a controversial topic since it has been legal in the United States for 43 years.24_{Instead, she argued} that she was merely telling stories that reflect the world we live in. This is a political statement in itself; even though she claimed not to cause any change in the world, she felt that the world she represents through her television is the real world. A world in which abortion is an uncontroversial legal medical procedure. When it comes to her characters who had an abortion on television, Rhimes said “[a]nd Cristina Yang and Olivia Pope have had matter of fact abortions. As is their legal right.”25

Even though Rhimes claimed to just tell realistic stories about strong women, and portraying abortion as a legal option, she recently became more explicit in defending a pro-choice agenda. In April 2017, she joined the national board of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Rhimes was already a board member of the Planned Parenthood affiliate of Los Angeles and has been praised by the federation for her portrayal of women’s health issues and women’s reproductive rights in her shows. This year, she was honored with the Champion of Change award by Planned Parenthood. In her acceptance speech, Rhimes stated that the stories she tells about women’s health are guided by two simple facts:

24_Ibid.

(11)

8

Fact 1: I just can’t get over the fact that a room full of straight white men who couldn’t find a vulva with two hands and a flashlight are insistent on telling me and all my friends what to do with the vagina we have been driving around America for our entire lives. Fact 2: When women’s health needs are taken care of, when women have the right to determine their reproductive future, to screen and treat STDs, to get life-saving pap smears, their families are stronger, their work lives are more productive, their self-esteem rises and they feel empowered. Women are happier.26

Rhimes is not very subtle in her descriptions of men and their attitudes women’s reproductive rights. These portrayals of weak and ignorant men are at times illustrated in her shows. And this speech underlines the suggestion that she knows what she is arguing in her stories about strong women who are making choices for themselves and being unapologetic about it. Later in her speech, Rhimes has a clear message for people claiming that the world does not work the way she portrays it: “It’s Shondaland. It’s my world. If not to reflect our exact world, then to show you how the world works when a woman is running things.”27 Rhimes’ feminist views are clearly expressed in this speech. This statement goes against her earlier claim about merely representing the world she lives in and it illustrates that Rhimes is not afraid to be explicit in defending her narratives, whether the audience find them realistic or not.

1.4 History of Abortion Rights in the United States

Even though abortion has been legal in the United States since 1973, the debate about abortion and its legality has continued over the years. The most important legislation revolving abortion was decided in the Roe v. Wade case in 1973. This case created a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. The court declared access to abortion as a fundamental freedom to be protected by the U.S. constitution. Even though the decision legalized abortion, it also provoked forceful opposition.28 As stated by historian M.S. Parry, both supporters and opponents of women’s reproductive rights have used media to win over public opinion on the abortion issue. This battle over abortion attitudes also expanded in intensity after abortion was

http://variety.com/2017/scene/news/shonda-rhimes-planned-parenthood-read-full-speech-1202407894/

27_Ibid.

(12)

9

legalized by Roe v. Wade.29_{Gallup, an American research-based company who track public} opinion, provided numbers about abortion attitudes in the United States between 1975 and 2016. The report shows that public opinion about abortion has fluctuated slightly over the years: in 1975, 21% of Americans believed abortion should be legal under any circumstances and 22% believed abortion should be illegal in all circumstances. In 2016, 29% of Americans believed abortion should be legal under all circumstances and 19% of Americans believed abortion should be illegal in all circumstances.30 While the percentage of U.S. Citizens who think abortion should be illegal in all circumstances has decreased since 1975, the number of citizens that consider themselves “pro-life”, meaning anti-abortion, has increased between 1996 and 2016. In 1996, Gallup asked people “[w]ith respect to the abortion issue, would you consider yourself to be pro-choice or pro-life?”31 According to the results, 37% of the citizens considered themselves pro-life and 56% of the people considered themselves pro-choice. In 2016, the percentage of people who considered themselves pro-choice decreased to 49% and the percentage of people who identified as pro-life increased to 44%.32 These numbers illustrate the difficulty in measuring public opinion when it concerns abortion attitudes. Republican politician John Kasich for example, who ran for the Republican nomination in 2016, said abortion should only be legal in cases of rape, incest, and when it concerns the health of the mother.33 Like him, other conservatives may consider themselves as pro-life while they support abortion under specific circumstances.

1.5 Chapter Outline

This thesis will analyze Rhimes’ portrayal of abortion throughout her different television shows. To gain insight in how her depiction of abortion narratives have evolved over the years, I will analyze her shows chronologically. In chapter 2, I will consider the progress in the narratives on Grey’s Anatomy by comparing Sisson and Kimport’s research on abortion plotlines and how these fit into Rhimes’ narratives. This chapter will also illustrate how Grey’s

29_{Manon S. Parry, Broadcasting Birth Control: Mass Media and Family Planning (New Brunswick, NJ:}

Rutgers University Press, 2013), 46.

30_{“Abortion,” Gallup, accessed June 2, 2017.}

http://www.gallup.com/poll/1576/abortion.aspx

31_Ibid. 32_Ibid.

33_{Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “}_{John Kasich’s abortion policies in Ohio: pro-life except for rape, incest and life of the}

mother?” the Washington Post, accessed May 28, 2017.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/03/25/john-kasichs-abortion-policies-in-ohio-pro-life-except-for-rape-incest-and-life-of-the-mother/?utm_term=.97ba01e1b1cd

(13)

10

Anatomy provided health messages and possibly even influence attitudes among its audience. The third chapter will argue that Rhimes used Private Practice to illustrate the different opinions about abortion. At times, she even suggested that people who are anti-abortion can have double standards, or even be hypocritical, when they are confronted with the subject in their personal life. Next to material from the episodes, Carol Hanisch’ essay ‘the Personal is Political’ will be considered. Furthermore, Rhimes uses this chapter to speak up against the controversial ‘partial-birth abortion ban’ of 2003. Historian, Johanna Schoen’s work, Abortion After Roe, will be considered to discuss the politics involved in late-term abortion in the United States.34 Finally, chapter 4 will argue that in Scandal, Rhimes is attempting to break down the stigma that still exists when it comes to abortion. In this chapter, the plotlines will be considered in light of the Washington DC news stories they were inspired by. Rhimes uses Scandal to portray a more tolerant Republican party and she is reversing traditional gender roles to create an unconventional dynamic between her main characters.

To answer how Shonda Rhimes portrays abortion in her television series and in what ways these representations relate to recent developments in the U.S. abortion debate, I will focus on how the abortion is portrayed in the episode. I will look at how the decision-making process is portrayed, how the characters deal with a possible abortion, and the opinions that are held by other characters involved in the plotline. Other recurring themes will be how gender is incorporated in discussing abortion and how the writing process behind the episodes took place. Furthermore, I will look at similarities between Rhimes’ narratives and examples or legislation in U.S. society. Finally, I will use these analyses argue that Rhimes has become more bold in representing abortion in her television shows.

(14)

11

Chapter 2: Nobody Says No to Shonda Rhimes

Progress in the Outcome of Abortion Plotlines

Introduction

Grey’s Anatomy is a medical drama series based in Seattle, Washington. The show first aired on ABC in 2005 and ever since it was first launched it became somewhat of a cultural phenomenon, often reaching audiences of approximately 20 million viewers, and thus claiming a top spot on the Nielsen ratings.35 Grey’s Anatomy is now in its 13th season and there are no signs of it stopping any time soon. Among other things, Rhimes has been praised for the diversity in the shows’ cast; she claims this is a result of the blind-casting technique she applied to this show. The script for the pilot had no physical descriptions aside from gender.36_Rhimes confirmed: “We really read every color actor for every single part. And…I was lucky because the network was like, great go for it.”37

The show’s ABC website describes Grey’s Anatomy as revolving around a group of doctors dealing with life-or-death situations on a daily basis. They find comfort in one another and together they discover “that neither medicine nor relations can be defined in black and white. Real life only comes in shades of grey.”38 This description illustrates the multi-layered meaning of the show’s name, referring both to the last name of its protagonist, the shades of grey in life, and the name of the hospital. Because the show is set in a hospital, the narratives provide a broad stage to speak about health, relationships, and work in relation to issues of gender, race, class, and sexuality. By showing all this diversity, and at the same time tackling culturally relevant issues of sexism and racism, one could assume that Rhimes is taking a lot of risks. However, this risk does seem to pay off when looking at her viewership and the ratings of the show.

In order to gain insight in the motivations behind Rhimes’ choice to portray abortion or a pro-choice agenda in her television shows, I will discuss the progress of these storylines in her first and longest running show Grey’s Anatomy in this chapter. Because of the medical nature

35_{Victoria Rideout, “Television as a Health Educator: A Case Study of Grey’s Anatomy,” Kaiser Family}

Foundation Report (2008): 1.

36_{Amy Long, “Diagnosing Drama: Grey’s Anatomy, Blind Casting, and the Politics of Representation,” the}

Journal of Popular Culture 44(5) (2011): 1067.

37_{Ibid, 1067-1068.}

38_{“About the Show,” ABC, accessed May 15, 2017.}

(15)

12

of the series, the writers could have treated the subject in a distant manner without taking a standpoint, however, two of the more in-depth storylines dealing with abortion are related to one of the show’s main characters. To analyze the topic of abortion and how this is portrayed in Grey’s Anatomy, I will first discuss how other television shows were dealing with the topic of abortion at the time Grey’s Anatomy first aired. Secondly, I will discuss the progressive storylines for the show’s main characters when it comes to abortion; in this section I will also discuss the writers’ motives for discussing abortion in certain ways and in what ways Grey’s Anatomy can be labeled as more progressive than other television series dealing with abortion. Furthermore, I will argue that as abortion legislation has become more restrictive, the show has become more explicit in defending women’s reproductive rights. Finally, I will discuss the influence of the show as a health educator and how the portrayal of abortion may result in a change in abortion attitudes among the audience.

2.1 Abortion in Television

2.1.1 Abortion Outcomes in the 2000s

In October 2011, Vulture.com, an entertainment news website linked to New York Magazine, praised Rhimes for finally having the courage to “go through with” an abortion on television; one of the shows’ main characters, Cristina Yang, decided to have an abortion. In several episodes, spread over two seasons, the audience follows Cristina in the process of finding out about the pregnancy, through the process of her decision making, and all the way towards the procedure itself. The article mentions that this storyline was noteworthy because unwanted pregnancies usually end in miscarriages or other ‘solutions’ because television creators do not feel confident enough to speak up about the controversial topic.39_{According to the article,} Grey’s Anatomy took a much bolder step in portraying abortion by staying true to the character and her wish. However, Rhimes was not always this bold in the show’s plotlines. In previous cases on the same show, she also opted to resolve unwanted pregnancies with alternative solutions.40

In order to determine whether or not the episode portraying the decision to have an abortion and the procedure itself was progressive or brave, I compare the narrative to other

39_{Willa Paskin, “}_{A Character on Grey’s Anatomy Actually Had an Abortion on Prime-Time Television Last} Night,” Vulture, accessed, March 20, 2017.

http://www.vulture.com/2011/09/someone_actually_had_an_aborti.html 40_Ibid.

(16)

13

television shows dealing with the topic of abortion at this time. Pop-culture journalist, Rebecca Raber, referred to abortion as ‘TV’s last taboo’ in an article in the Village Voice in 2005. She argued that there was no shortage of unwelcome surprise pregnancies in American television, yet characters rarely went through with having an abortion, unlike their real-life counterparts.41 Raber provided examples from Grey’s Anatomy and its character Cristina’s first pregnancy, which resulted in a miscarriage, and an example from Desperate Housewives where Gabriella Solis, who did not wanted children and only got pregnant because her husband tampered with her birth control pills, eventually miscarried with a dramatic fall from the stairs just after she realized that she did want to become a mother after all.42 Television did not shy away from the dramatic storylines of unwanted pregnancy and the uncertainty and inner struggles of what to do next, however, Raber argued that the word abortion was often not even uttered. In a Sex and the City episode from 2001, Miranda becomes pregnant by an ex-boyfriend, initially she plans on having an abortion but she eventually decides to become a mother. In the episode, the four girlfriends seemingly discuss abortions without judgment; two of the main characters had experience with the procedure themselves. Yet, they never refer to it with the actual name, so even though they openly discuss it, the topic is still stigmatized by not feeling free enough to refer to the procedure with the correct terminology. Raber described the example of Six Feet Under as the only exception when it came to abortion outcomes. In one episode, a teenager ‘nonchalantly’ has an abortion because it is the right decision for her.43

Raber already alluded to the various outcomes that can result from an abortion plotline on television; she argued that when it comes to television “we might as well be living in an era before Roe v. Wade.”44_{The number of television abortion plotlines increased steadily after the} Roe vs. Wade ruling, but it was not until the 21st century that abortion narratives have increased more expansively. Between 2003 and 2012, the total of abortion plotlines increased with 105%.45 Sisson and Kimport state that 69% of the television depictions of abortion aired on network television (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS etc.). More importantly, 90% of the depictions were aired during primetime.46 So even if abortion is still a controversial topic in the United States, network television and advertisers are not scared away from profiling the topic in primetime. However, abortion plotlines do not always lead to an actual abortion for the character. Even

41_{Rebecca Raber, “TV’s Last Taboo,” the Village Voice (2005): 31.} 42_{Ibid, 31.}

43_{Ibid, 32.} 44_{Ibid, 31.}

(17)

14

though unplanned or unwanted pregnancies are a hot topic for television producers, not many of them have dared to have their characters stick to the decision to terminate a pregnancy. Sisson and Kimport identify several outcomes or solutions to abortion plotlines: unresolved, adoption, pregnancy loss, parenting, and abortion.47 Television producers might decide to tackle the controversial topic in their narratives, but still shy away from taking an actual stance by opting for the character contemplating an abortion to change her mind, or miscarry. Sisson and Kimport have done several studies into characters seeking abortion on American television and between 2005 and 2015, 55% of the women considering an abortion end up obtaining one. 40% of the plotlines result in one of the other possible outcomes like pregnancy loss, adoption, or motherhood. Only 4% of the abortion narratives portray a character pursuing an abortion but encountering too many obstacles on the way that she cannot terminate the pregnancy.48 They show that abortions have been part of movies ever since the early 20th century. Because television was only available from the 1940s abortions were introduced to this medium in a later stage as they were slowly incorporated from the 1960s.49

Aside from Grey’s Anatomy, there was another show tackling gender issues and women’s reproductive rights around the same time. In 2012, HBO first aired a new show about four young women living in New York. Because of the location and topic of the show, Girls was initially expected to become the new Sex and the City. However, the creator of the show, feminist writer and director Lena Dunham, intended to tell a more raw and honest tale. Girls second episode of season one dealt with one of its main characters Jessa and her scheduled abortion. Girls aimed for a more modern approach by having Jessa’s friends throwing her an ‘abortion party’ and using the word abortion 11 times during the episode, almost like they were desensitizing it. However, in the end Jessa got her period and turned out not to be pregnant.50 According to Dunham, the episode coincidentally aired during the time when anti-abortionist Rick Santorum became a powerful force in the Republican primary. But she is not afraid to use her stage to take part in the national debate: “I am glad that we’re exploring that stuff when the debate is most visible.”51 In 2015, Girls went a step further: Mimi, one of the main character’s

47_{Ibid, 416.}

48_{Gretchen Sisson & Katrina Kimport, “Depicting Abortion Access on American Television, 2005-2015,”}

Feminism & Psychology 27(1) (2017): 59.

50_{Lauren Duca and Emma Gray, “‘Girls’ Finally went there with an Abortion Storyline,” the Huffington Post,}

accessed March 24, 2017.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/22/girls-abortion-storyline_n_6716744.html

51_{Jordan Zakarin, “Lena Dunham Gets Real with HBO’s Girls, One Crisis at a Time,” the Hollywood Reporter,}

(18)

15

girlfriend calmly tells her boyfriend she cannot go for a run because she had an abortion the day before. Her boyfriend becomes very angry at this news and asks her if it was a boy or a girl. Mimi replies “It was a ball of cells. It was smaller than a seed pearl. It didn’t have a penis or a vagina.”52 These words challenge a traditional argument about preserving unborn human life often made by anti-abortion activists. The two episodes of Girls illustrate that Dunham portrayed a more explicit approach to discussing abortion on television than previous shows have done. Yet, ending the first abortion episode in a false pregnancy could be explained as a safe solution to avoid the procedure from happening. Rhimes also portrayed different solutions to abortion narratives in Grey’s Anatomy.

2.1.2 Progress in Grey’s Anatomy Abortion Outcomes

In 2005, the first few episodes of season 2 of Grey’s Anatomy revolve around the unwanted and secret pregnancy of Cristina Yang, who had an affair with Preston Burke. Cristina is one of the surgical residents at Seattle Grace Hospital. At this point in the show, the audience has come to know Cristina as a very determined and career-driven young doctor. She does not let emotions get the better of her, and most of all she is fearless when it comes to taking out her competition. When her relationship is ended by doctor Burke, she decides not to inform him about her pregnancy. Cristina does not embody stereotypical feminine traits; her career is the most important thing to her, and there is little room for emotions or feelings. These character traits also play up when she is pregnant; she makes the decision to have an abortion in a very business-like manner. She refers to her affair with doctor Burke as ‘Switzerland’ a place where everything is neutral and no real feelings are involved.

Instead of the abortion happening, the plotline took an alternative route. Cristina is forced to operate with doctor Burke after their break-up. In the operating room, they argue because Cristina is acting distracted and does not perform to her normal standard. Cristina collapses and has to be taken out of the operating room. On her way out, she tells her fellow resident, Izzie Stevens, that she is 7 weeks pregnant. A neonatal surgeon later confirms that Cristina is suffering from an ectopic pregnancy and that her fallopian tube burst. The doctors remove Cristina’s left fallopian tube. Doctor Burke is still left in the dark when it comes to the

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/lena-dunhams-girls-explore-unemployment-reproductive-rights-nyc-hbo-308737

52_{Lauren Duca and Emma Gray, “‘Girls’ Finally went there with an Abortion Storyline,” the Huffington Post,}

accessed March 24, 2017.

(19)

16

ectopic pregnancy and the initial plans for an abortion. In the next episode, Cristina’s fellow residents and friends discuss what happened. They all express their concerns about the fact that she has not shown any emotion since she lost the pregnancy and one of her fallopian tubes. One resident claims that ‘not showing weakness’ will make her a great surgeon. This is an explicit statement representing a real-life dilemma; the lack of emotions or feelings result in her co-workers judging Cristina as a person, however, these traits are supposedly what makes her great at her job.

While writing this storyline, Rhimes and her co-writers never intended for Cristina to become a parent. In an interview several years after the episode aired, Rhimes stated that it was originally her intention to let Cristina’s pregnancy end in an actual abortion. She supposedly had the storyline all laid out when she got some “strong reactions” from Broadcast Standard and Practices, the network’s department involved in the moral and ethical implications of its programming; even though nobody told her not to do it, she went back to the writing room. Someone then pitched her the idea of the ectopic pregnancy and Cristina collapsing in the OR in front of Preston. Rhimes claims that have Dr. Burke find out this way, and the pregnancy resulting in a medical issue, was more interesting to the story.53 These statements made by Rhimes illustrate several things. First of all, she claims she would personally not have shied away from an abortion plotline and she was not forced to drop the abortion from the storyline. Nevertheless, she dropped her initial plan for Cristina’s abortion. Instead, the outcome of Cristina’s pregnancy is a miscarriage. The change in solution shows that more important than spreading a message about abortion as an important topic in medical health, the development of interesting storylines and relationships on the show are a crucial factor in the process of writing an episode.

Leading health communication researchers argue health information is more likely to be attended to when it is delivered through engaging storytelling, often involving characters the audience already ‘knows and cares about’.54 When dealing with the medical topic of abortion, the message may be received better by the audience when they truly know and care about the character experiencing it. This may also play a factor in Rhimes’ decision to let Cristina go through with an abortion in a later series of the show, once her character was more developed and relatable to the audience. In 2014, she admitted to Time Magazine that she

53_{Willa Paskin, “Shonda Rhimes on Grey’s Anatomy’s Recent Abortion Story Line,” Vulture, accessed March}

5, 2017.

http://www.vulture.com/2011/09/shonda_rhimes_talks_about_grey.html

54_{A. Singhal et al., Entertainment-education and social change: History, research, and practice (Mahwah, NJ:}

(20)

17

regretted changing her original plans for Cristina’s first pregnancy in 2005.55_{She felt she could} go through with Cristina’s abortion in 2011: “I felt like we had earned all of the credentials with the audience, the audience knew these characters. The audience loved these characters. The audience stood by these characters.”56 In 2011, in the last episode of season 7, Cristina finds out she is pregnant again. She is married to one of her colleagues at this point and immediately decides to inform him about the pregnancy. Her partner, Owen, cannot hide his joy about the possibility of becoming a father. Cristina is not open to this idea, claiming she does not dislike babies, and therefore does not want to bring a child into the world that is not wanted by its mother. While she promises Owen to think about her options, she eventually decides to schedule an appointment to have an abortion. When she tells Owen about it, he is very angry that he was not part of the decision.

In the first episode of season 8, Rhimes decided for Cristina to go through with her abortion instead of opting for a different solution to her unwanted pregnancy. In beginning of the episode, Owen sees Cristina cuddling Meredith’s baby. The audience understands this is a painful moment for him, since Cristina convinced him she is not the maternal kind. Cristina confirms to Meredith that she made an appointment to have an abortion that day at 6:00 PM. Later in the episode, Owen offers to risk his life for a patient, he urges that he should be the one risking his life instead of another doctor who has a wife and a child. By saying this, Owen appears to disregard his own wife and her pregnancy. Maybe this moment reflects his acceptance of the reality that Cristina wants an abortion. In the end of the second episode, Owen comes to terms with Cristina’s decision and offers to go with her to the appointment. The audience sees Cristina in a hospital bed, holding hands with Owen, while the doctor says: “I am going to ask you one last time, are you sure?” Cristina nods yes and turns her head to the side, while the camera pans out. The scene is followed by a scene showing Meredith Grey and her husband holding their child before having to give her back to the adoption agency. The combination of these storylines is quite profound since Cristina argues she would not make a good parent because she does not want to have children, and while Meredith and her husband desire to have a child, the adoption agency has doubts if they are fit to be parents. Telling these two stories in one episode may be part of a larger argument about becoming a parent, and that

55_{Laura Stampler, “Why 2014 Should Be the Year We Talk About Abortion on TV: Shonda Rhimes Explains}

Why It’s so Important,” Time Magazine, accessed April 2, 2017.

http://entertainment.time.com/2014/01/23/why-2014-should-be-the-year-we-talk-about-abortion-on-tv/

(21)

18

it is not something that starts at conception but is in fact responsibility that people should consciously take on.

The progress between the two narratives is extra clear because both storylines deal with an unplanned pregnancy for the same character. While Cristina was in a stable marriage at the time of her second pregnancy, her choice was based on not wanting to become a parent. The decision had nothing to do with outside factors like a stable relationship, job certainty or financial security. By taking these factors out of the equation, the narrative suggests that the decision to have an abortion is a personal one and that there are no outside requirements to whether the decision is justifiable. The viewer is guided to accepting Cristina’s abortion because nobody on the show rejects her choice to end her pregnancy. Even her partner, who wants to become a parent, eventually accepts her choice about terminating the pregnancy.

Between 2006 and 2011, the writers of the show all wrote blogs on a website called ‘Grey Matter’ explaining what went into writing the episodes. The blogs stopped before the actual abortion episode in season 8. Debora Cahn, the main writer for this storyline, did write a blog about the season finale of season 7, ‘Unaccompanied Minor’, in which she reflects on Cristina’s pregnancy and her decision to have an abortion:

And so Cristina. Making a terrible decision. Alone. The decision itself is a problem, obviously, but that wasn’t our focus, cause we’d all seen that one on Lifetime. Our focus was how she was making the decision. Where Owen was in the decision. What did it tell us about her marriage. Her partnership. Her ability to include someone else in her life, even at this most devastating time. Ultimately, she couldn’t. We can all slot ourselves into predictable spots on the political spectrum, but none of the bumper stickers prepare us for deciding with someone else. Everything that makes Cristina a great surgeon makes her a terrible partner. And that just sucks.57

Cahn appears to use Lifetime as a generalization of other television networks and shows that have shown other kinds of narratives when it comes to abortion plotlines as she argues that their focus was not on the debate between having an abortion or not, instead, they focused on the complexity of the decision to have an abortion, on a personal and a relationship level. An abortion plotline in a show like Sex and the City is meant to add a level of drama even though

57_{Debora Cahn, “Unaccompanied Minor,” Grey’s Anatomy: Grey Matter, accessed March 24, 2017.}

(22)

19

the writers never intend for the character to go through with the procedure. As stated by Raber, introducing an abortion narrative can be a way for writers to feel “brave” for explore a “taboo subject” without having to defend their political convictions.58 Cahn claims their motives were different and more focused on the development of the character of Cristina. She describes a political spectrum with all kinds of possible attitudes towards abortion. In her description of how Cristina made the decision to terminate her pregnancy, Cahn is critical of Cristina as a partner. She appears to argue that Cristina is a terrible partner because she did not include Owen in her decision to have an abortion. The narrative was not merely created to push a pro-choice agenda, but to evaluate Cristina’s shortcomings, abilities and possible growth on a personal level. So even if the show argues that the decision to have an abortion or not is a personal one, this writer is arguing that the woman, in this case Cristina, should include her partner.

2.1.3 U.S. Politics and the Continuing Fight to Limit Abortion Rights

Over the progress of Grey’s Anatomy, Rhimes has become more bold in defending women’s reproductive rights, focusing on a woman’s right to choose. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 195 state-level abortion restrictions were adopted between 2000 and 2005.59 All these limitations to the right to have an abortion make it more difficult for women to have access to safe and affordable abortions. The Guttmacher Institute stated in a policy report in 2006 that 52 of the 195 state-level abortion limitations existing at that time were enacted in 2005.60 Since the developments around the state-level limitations on abortions are so visible in the years between 2000 and 2005, one could assume that anyone arguing for a pro-abortion message would react to these new restrictions. However, since Rhimes did not speak publicly about abortion and a woman’s right to choose in this period, it would be too presumptuous to claim that she decided on the abortion narrative for one of her main characters to push for a pro-choice agenda. In 2012, the Guttmacher Institute published numbers of a new record number of 1,100 reproductive health and rights-related provisions in 2011.

58_{Rebecca Raber, “TV’s Last Taboo,” the Village Voice (2005): 33.}

59_{Rebecca Wind, “}_{States Enacted 52 Laws Restricting Abortion in 2005: Beyond Threats to Roe v. Wade,}

Women Already Face Significant Barriers to Abortion,” the Guttmacher Institute, accessed March 24, 2017.

https://www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2006/states-enacted-52-laws-restricting-abortion-2005

(23)

20

In 2010, the number of new restrictions in all 50 states was 950.61_{Furthermore, in 2010, only} 26% of the new provisions involved restricting abortion, this percentage increased to 68% of the 2011 provisions.62 Even though, these numbers were not published until after the 2011 episode of Grey’s Anatomy, in which Cristina had an abortion. The timing of the episode turned out to be crucial with all the new restrictions that were implemented during 2011.

2.2 The Health Educating Role of Grey’s Anatomy

Entertainment television plays an important role in most Americans daily routines and therefore has a great influence as information provider. Because of great international success in providing public information on topics like HIV, domestic violence, and reproductive health, public health practitioners have sought to introduce Entertainment-education in the United States as well.63_{Vicki Beck, who researches health messages in television, claims that} television shows are an important, often primary, source of health information.64_{For this} reason, it is important that shows like Grey’s Anatomy provide accurate information about health issues. The power of television is so uniquely great because television, especially prime-time programs on the major networks like Grey’s Anatomy, have an enormous reach. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, health information provided through engaging storytelling is more likely to be attended to than through traditional sources.65 There have been several studies into health messages on entertainment television, and how this information was received and remembered by the audience. An episode of Friends, in which one of the characters became pregnant despite the use of a condom, turned out to provide healthy sex education about condom use and possible risks of becoming pregnant.66 Usually, television’s

61_{“States Enact Record Number of Abortion Restrictions in 2011,” the Guttmacher Institute, accessed June 13,}

2017.

https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2012/01/states-enact-record-number-abortion-restrictions-2011

62_Ibid.

63_{H.J. Hether et al. “Entertainment-Education in a Media-Saturated Environment: Examining the Impact of}

Single and Multiple Exposure to Breast Cancer Storylines on Two Popular Medical Dramas,” Journal of Health

Communication (2008): 809.

64_{Vicki Beck, “Working with Daytime and Prime-Time Television Shows in the United States to Promote}

Health,” In Entertainment-Education and Social Change: History, Research, and Practice, ed. A. Singhal, M.J. Cody et al. (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Associates, 2004), 207-224.

65_{A. Singhal et al., Entertainment-education and social change: History, research, and practice, Mahwah, NJ:}

Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, 2004.

66_{Rebecca L. Collins et al. “Entertainment Television as a Healthy Sex Educator: the Impact of}

(24)

21

influence is cumulative because of repeated exposure to certain themes.67_{Research into ER} and Grey’s Anatomy has shown that the impact of two unrelated breast cancer storylines was strongest among viewers who watched both storylines instead of either one individually. This suggests an additive effect in health information across storylines and television shows.68 Because of Grey’s Anatomy’s immense popularity, the show has the potential to educate people through its storylines. In a collaborative study between the Kaiser Family Foundation and the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center’s Hollywood, Health & Society, a list of the top 10 scripted prime time shows was provided for the years 2004, 2005, and 2006. The study showed rankings for three separate audience groups described as a general audience (including all ethnicities in equal proportions to their representation in the population), an African American audience, and a Hispanic audience.69 For the years 2004 and 2005 the number one show for the general audience often was different from the number one show for the African American or the Hispanic audiences. For example, in 2004 Friends was the number one ranked show for the general audience and the Hispanic audience, while Girlfriends was the number one show for the African American audience. In 2005, the African American and Hispanic audience ranked the Simpsons as their number one show, while Desperate housewives was the highest ranked show among the general audience. The ranking of 2006 shows that the newcomer Grey’s Anatomy was instantly popular; as a newcomer in the top 10 ranking, it became the number one ranked show for all three audiences.70 These rankings lead to the conclusion that Grey’s Anatomy was not only an immediate success, it also illustrates that the show is a culturally versatile show that speaks to audiences from all kinds of backgrounds.

Because of Grey’s Anatomy’s broad reach, the writers have access to a powerful tool in providing health education. The Kaiser Family Foundation used an episode of Grey’s Anatomy from season 4 in their research on television’s role as a health educator. The foundation selected this topic for their research together with Meg Marinis, the director of medical research on the show. The research was done among regular viewers of the show, who were asked about the topic one week before the episode aired, one week after the episode, and

67_{Sheila T. Murphy, Heather J. Hether, and Victoria Rideout, “How Healthy is Prime Time? An Analysis of}

Health Content in Popular Prime Time Television Programs,” Report by The Kaiser Family Foundation and The

USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center’s Hollywood, Health & Society (2008): 2.

68_{H.J. Hether et al. “Entertainment-Education in a Media-Saturated Environment: Examining the Impact of}

Single and Multiple Exposure to Breast Cancer Storylines on Two Popular Medical Dramas,” Journal of Health

Communication (2008): 816.

69_{Sheila T. Murphy, Heather J. Hether, and Victoria Rideout, “How Healthy is Prime Time? An Analysis of}

Health Content in Popular Prime Time Television Programs,” Report by The Kaiser Family Foundation and The

USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center’s Hollywood, Health & Society (2008): 4.

(25)

22

again six weeks after the episode.71_{The episode analyzed in the research dealt with a couple} who wanted to have an abortion because the pregnant woman had been diagnosed with HIV. The couple blame their doctor, Izzie Stevens, for pushing an anti-abortion agenda when she advises them about their options aside from abortion. Eventually, doctor Stevens is able to provide sufficient information about the couple’s chances of having a healthy baby so they decide against having the abortion.

The show influenced the medical knowledge of its audience on the possible risks for an HIV infected women to carry a child full term. The medical knowledge tested in the research was the ‘2% chance an HIV-positive woman would transfer the virus to her unborn baby when receiving the right treatment during her pregnancy’. Before the episode aired, only 15% of the audience was aware that there was a high chance that a baby would be born without HIV. After the episode aired 61% of the audience remembered that there is more than a 90% chance that an HIV-positive woman can have a healthy baby and 17% of the respondents specifically remembered that it was a 98% chance. Six weeks after the episode aired, 45% of the audience still remembered that there was more than a 90% chance of the baby not being infected with HIV; even though, the number of people who remembered dropped, it is still 30% higher than it was before seeing the episode.72 The audience was also asked to react to the following statement: “It is irresponsible for a woman who knows she is HIV positive to have a baby.” When looking at the male demographic who strongly agree with this statement in comparison to the female demographic there is quite a difference in their reactions after the episode aired. Before the episode aired, 59% of the male audience agreed that it is irresponsible; this percentage dropped to 48% one week after the episode. For the female audience 62% thought it was irresponsible before the episode aired; this percentage dropped to 29% after the episode aired.73 The medical information provided on the episode had more influence on women. After seeing the episode, women were less inclined to mark an HIV-positive woman as irresponsible for having a baby. These results could be interesting to consider when discussing abortion on television. If the information is presented in a certain way, the female audience could be less inclined to judge women who have an abortion. Since the health information about HIV positive women and pregnancy resulted in a change in opinion among the female audience, the way in which Cristina’s abortion was presented may also have influenced the audience. Cahn

71_{Victoria Rideout, “Television as a Health Educator: A Case Study of Grey’s Anatomy,” Kaiser Family}

Foundation Report (2008): 2.

72_Ibid. 73_{Ibid, 5.}

(26)

23

argued that the focus of the writers was on how she was making her decision instead of if she would have an abortion.

In conclusion, in Grey’s Anatomy, Rhimes has illustrated that abortion can be discussed in a different manner than other television shows like Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City had done before her. Even though these shows also focused on female lead characters, abortion narratives often portrayed women who were contemplating the procedure before the writers of the show decided to resolve the unplanned pregnancy in another way. Rhimes made a similar choice for one of her characters in 2005 by ending the pregnancy with a medical emergency – the ectopic pregnancy led to her fallopian tube to burst. However, in 2011 she decided for the same character to go through with the planned abortion in the episode. By doing this, she has made a bolder claim about a character having a legal abortion without regretting it. A medical show like Grey’s Anatomy can be a powerful tool to spread health messages to an audience. Creating a narrative about abortion procedures may be a useful tool to spread a pro-choice message.

(27)

24

(28)

25

Chapter 3: Take a Stance

How Abortion Politics Become Personal in Private Practice

Introduction

In 2008, ABC Network began broadcasting Private Practice, as a spin-off series of Grey’s Anatomy. The show focused on former Grey’s Anatomy character doctor Addison Montgomery, an obstetrician gynecologist specialized in neo-natal surgery, who decided to move to California to join her friends Sam and Naomi Bennett at Oceanside Wellness Group. The show ran from 2007 until 2013 and was produced by ABC Studios, Shondaland, and the Mark Gordon Company.74 The wellness center offers fertility treatments, psychological care, internal medicine, and pediatric care. In the first episode, one of the main characters describes Oceanside as a small-town practice providing personal health care even though the practice is located in a big city.75 Because the practice is setup this way, the relation between the doctors and their patients is often very personal. Consequently, at times this results in the doctors voicing their personal attitudes about and towards their patients. The show offers a multi-facetted view of women’s reproductive issues because the practice does not only deal with fertility treatments, pediatric care and neo-natal care, at times it also confronts the termination of pregnancies.

In this chapter I will argue that Private Practice was set-up in a way that allowed for Rhimes and her co-writers to discuss abortion in a more personal and opinionated way than she did in Grey’s Anatomy. During the second feminist wave in the 1960s, feminist activist Carol Hanisch, a prominent figure in the Women’s Liberation Movement, introduced the slogan ‘the personal is political.’76 By showing abortion narratives in an intimate and personal way, Private Practice shows why abortion rights are important despite political opinions and because of personal circumstances. I will argue that because the show is situated in Oceanside Wellness Group, a small family practice that mainly focuses on fertility treatments, neo-natal, and pediatric care, it offers the producers a chance to show the personal opinions that surround abortion. In Private Practice, Rhimes shows her characters’ personal opinions about abortion,

74_{Private Practice, the International Movie Database, accessed May 18, 2017.}

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0972412/?ref_=ttep_ep_tt

75_{“In Which We Meet Addison, Nice Girl from Somewhere Else.” Private Practice, Prod. Shondaland, the}

Mark Gordon Company and ABC Studios (2010).

76_{Carol Hanisch, “the Personal is Political,” Notes from the Second Year: Women’s Liberation (New York,}

(29)

26

thus creating a debate between characters who are pro-choice and those who are anti-abortion. In Grey’s Anatomy, the audience witnessed Cristina and what she experienced in deciding to terminate her pregnancy, but the legality of the procedure was never challenged by any of the characters. Rhimes explicitly defends women’s reproductive rights by addressing late-term abortion. In this episode, the writers challenge the political rhetoric used by anti-abortion activists. Finally, I will argue that the people behind Shondaland television series are arguing a pro-choice agenda and through the storylines and casting make a deliberate political statement in support of women’s reproductive rights. In fact, Shondaland often hires the same actors for their television shows, many of whom have spoken out publicly in support of women’s reproductive rights and Planned Parenthood.

3.1 The Personal Is Political

3.1.1 Personal Politics and the Abortion Debate

In a 1969 essay, feminist activist Carol Hanisch, a prominent figure in the Women’s Liberation Movement, discussed why personal issues of reproductive rights, childcare, household labor and other ‘personal’ affairs were of political importance. She argued that the word “therapy” is often misplaced in political debates, and that women are “messed over” instead of “messed up”. This distinction places the blame outside of the nature of women but instead on the patriarchal society. Hanisch said that in the female activist groups, questions are asked and answered from personal experience and that these groups are a form of political action. She explained that the groups she participated in did not offer any personal solutions to the problems women faced, instead, they illustrated that political solutions are required, to create collective solutions to these collective problems.77_{‘The personal is political’ attempts to blur} the boundary between the public and the private sphere. In order to make women less subservient to men, or remove the patriarchy, political change in the form of legislation like Roe v. Wade is necessary in order to relieve women of the personal issues that hold them back. In research into the abortion attitudes among American students, Sahar and Karasawa discovered that symbolic predispositions have a great amount of influence on views of abortion in the United States.78 Sahar and Karasawa argue that ‘The personal is political’ captures the

77_{Carol Hanisch, “the Personal is Political,” Notes from the Second Year: Women’s Liberation (New York,}

1970), 76.

78_{Gail Sahar & Kaori Karasawa, “Is the Personal Always Political? A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Abortion}

(30)

27

essence of the abortion debate in the United States because it is difficult to understand a deeply personal issue like abortion because it is so politically charged.79_{In the United States, religion} is linked negatively to abortion approval, yet, conservatism has a greater influence on the other variables like responsibility, blame, abortion approval, and government help.80 The research concludes that American participants are ideological in their opinions on abortion. The findings support the notion that abortion is a symbolic issue in the United States and it partly provides an explanation to why the issue is so polarized there.81 The importance of symbolism to the American abortion debate suggests that in the United States, the personal is indeed political.

3.1.2 Politics at Oceanside Wellness

Oceanside Wellness Group was founded on traditional family values and one of its main purposes is to help people who have difficulty conceiving naturally with fertility treatments. The clinic’s founders are doctor Naomi Bennett, a reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist, and her ex-husband doctor Sam Bennett who is an attending cardiothoracic surgeon and an attending internist. Sam is also known as ‘doctor feelgood’ because of his book ‘Body Language: The Mind-Body connection’.82 Sam and Naomi work together with psychiatrist Violet Turner, pediatrician Cooper Freedman, and Pete Wilder who is specialized in alternative medicine, critical care, and infectious diseases. The practice aims to be a small family practice providing all-round care to families; in one episode, Oceanside uses a commercial ad to emphasize they want to provide care “from our family to yours.”83 The family values of Oceanside are illustrated through the religious values of its founders: Sam and Naomi Bennett are Catholic, and Naomi especially appears to be conflicted when it comes to her divorce and how this can possibly fit into her religion. Another important part of the small family practice is the fertility treatments the clinic provides. Right from the first few episodes it becomes clear that a lot of the staff’s work focuses on fertility and reproductive care as well as providing help to couples with relationship or sexual problems. Because the practice is so small, all doctors appear to be involved in each other’s cases. This may be because they require each other’s expertise in a case, but it can also be that a medical case is discussed over a coffee break

79_Ibid.

80_{Ibid, 291.} 81_Ibid.

82_{“Sam Bennett,” Grey’s Anatomy Wikia, accessed May 18, 2017.}

http://greysanatomy.wikia.com/wiki/Sam_Bennett

Abortion on Screen: Shonda Rhimes and the Television Portrayal of Women’s Reproductive Rights in the United States